[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 7 (Thursday, January 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1411-1412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-623]
Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 7 / Thursday, January 10, 2002 /
Notices
[[Page 1411]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
Reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education
Act
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of request for public comment on the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act and its implementation.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education invites written comments from the
public on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to
assist the Department in preparing for reauthorization of the Act in
2002.
DATES: In order to ensure that your comments are considered by the
Department in preparing its legislative proposal on IDEA, we encourage
you to submit the comments before February 25, 2002.
ADDRESSES: All comments concerning the reauthorization of IDEA should
be addressed to Thomas Irvin, Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, and submitted by
one of the following methods:
1. Internet. We encourage you to send your comments through the
Internet at the following address: [email protected].
You must use the term IDEA Reauthorization in the subject line of
your electronic message.
2. Surface Mail. Alternatively, you may submit your comments via
surface mail to: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Mary
E. Switzer Building, Room 3086, Washington DC 20202-2570.
To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies of comments,
please submit your comments only one time--using one of the two methods
described in the preceding paragraphs (Internet or surface mail).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: JoLeta Reynolds or Thomas Irvin (202)
205-5507. If you use a telecommunication device for the deaf (TTD) you
may call the TDD number at (202) 205-5465.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to Katie Mincey, Director of the Alternate Formats
Center. Telephone: (202) 205-8113.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister. To use PDF you must have Adobe
Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site. If you have
questions about using PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office
(GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at
(202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html/
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background and Description of the Act
On June 4, 1997, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) Amendments of 1997 were enacted into law as Pub. L. 105-17.
These Amendments reauthorized and made significant changes to IDEA to
accomplish the following: (1) Ensure better results for children with
disabilities, while retaining (and expanding upon) the rights and
protections under prior law; (2) revise the discretionary programs to
strengthen the capacity of States to effectively serve children with
disabilities, including infants and toddlers with disabilities; and (3)
make other improvements to IDEA, including simplifying the structure
and organization of the Act.
As authorized by the 1997 Amendments, IDEA is divided into four
major parts:
Part A (General Provisions) includes the findings and purposes of
the Act; definitions; authority for the Office of Special Education
Programs; abrogation of State sovereign immunity; authority for the
acquisition of equipment and construction of facilities; provisions
regarding the employment of individuals with disabilities; and
requirements for prescribing regulations.
Part B (Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities)
authorizes a State formula grant program for the education of children
with disabilities aged 3 through 21. The Act includes provisions
regarding--(1) conditions for State and local eligibility (e.g.,
ensuring a free appropriate public education for all eligible
children); (2) evaluations, child eligibility, and individualized
education programs (IEPs); and (3) procedural safeguards (e.g.,
mediation, due process procedures, and pendency or stay-put
requirements, including discipline procedures). In addition, Part B
includes other provisions, including data collection requirements.
Part B also authorizes a Preschool Grants program that provides
additional funds to help States provide special education and related
services to children with disabilities aged three through five.
Part C authorizes the early intervention program for infants and
toddlers with disabilities, which provides Federal assistance to help
States maintain and implement a statewide system of early intervention
services for young children with disabilities, aged birth through two,
and their families. The Act sets out eligibility conditions for State
participation in the program, including--(1) a policy that ensures
appropriate early intervention services for all eligible children,
including, at State discretion, children who are at risk of
experiencing substantial developmental delays; and (2) other
requirements (e.g., provisions regarding individualized family service
plans (IFSPs), natural environments, procedural safeguards, and
financing of early intervention services).
Part D authorizes a series of discretionary programs to support
National activities to improve the education of children with
disabilities, including State Improvement Grants, coordinated research
and personnel preparation, parent training and information centers,
technical assistance and dissemination, technology development,
demonstration, and utilization, and media services.
Need for Reauthorization
Two major parts of IDEA will expire on September 30, 2002: Part C
(Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities); and Part D (National
Activities to Improve Education of Children with Disabilities). Thus,
we are seeking broad public input regarding changes needed to improve
implementation of the early intervention program for infants and
toddlers with disabilities under Part C, and the effectiveness of the
National Activities under Part D.
We also will consider all relevant comments received on the Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Part C program that was published
on September 5, 2000 (65 FR 53808). (The Secretary is publishing a
Notice withdrawing the Part C NPRM in this issue of the Federal
Register.)
Although Part B of IDEA is permanent legislation with no
requirement for reauthorization, the reauthorization
[[Page 1412]]
process for Parts C and D provides an opportunity to carefully examine
Part B as well.
The President has laid out four principles of education reform to
ensure that no child is left behind. These principles are:
accountability for results, local control and flexibility, empowering
parents to participate more meaningfully in their children's education,
and employing research-based practices that we know work to improve
student performance. Using this underlying framework, the Secretary
solicits public comment regarding the reauthorization of IDEA.
We are particularly interested in identifying opportunities for
increasing flexibility and reducing unnecessary paperwork and burden
while maintaining the important rights and protections of children with
disabilities and their families.
Invitation To Comment
We encourage your comments on the broad areas identified in the
preceding paragraphs (under Need for Reauthorization). Because we
believe that reforms to IDEA should be based, to the greatest degree
possible, on evidence that demonstrates the need for reform and that
can guide those reforms, we are also particularly interested in
receiving factual information and research in these broad areas. We
also seek comment on the following specific areas:
(1) Accountability. How, and to what degree, are children with
disabilities being included in State and local accountability systems?
What barriers exist to inclusion of these children in the
accountability systems? What recommendations do you have to eliminate
these barriers?
(2) Personnel Issues. In what areas of special education and
related services (or early intervention services) are States and school
districts (or lead agencies) experiencing problems in finding and
retaining qualified personnel? Are funds that are available at the
Federal, State, and local levels being used effectively to address
personnel shortages? For teachers, administrators, and others
responding to these questions, what recommendations do you have to
alleviate personnel shortages?
Are the pre-service and in-service training programs offered by
State and local educational agencies based on research-derived methods
that are proven to improve results for children? Do regular and special
education teachers believe their college preparation programs prepared
them to teach students with disabilities? Do local administrators
believe the regular and special education teachers they are hiring are
qualified to teach students with disabilities?
(3) Parent Involvement. For parents of children with disabilities,
what barriers to meaningful participation in your child's education
have you experienced? For school districts, what barriers have you
faced in ensuring meaningful parent involvement? For parents and
professionals involved in the early intervention program under Part C,
what barriers have you experienced? In each of these cases, have you
experienced any efforts to increase parent involvement that you believe
are successful? If so, please describe them.
(4) Transition to Post-School Endeavors. To what extent are school
aged students with disabilities routinely participating in their IEP
meetings? What barriers exist to full implementation of the IDEA's
current transition requirements? What recommendations do you have to
eliminate these barriers?
(5) Excessive Paperwork. For administrators, teachers, or other
personnel, describe any burdens you are experiencing in implementing
the Part B (or Part C) requirements. What specific requirements are
problematic, and what kinds of problems are you having? What
recommendations do you have to resolve these problems? What paperwork
requirements do little to further educational goals of children with
disabilities and/or provide appropriate protections to the children and
their families? What paperwork is completed by clerical staff,
administrators, special education teachers, and regular education
teachers? What paperwork now completed by teachers and administrators
could be completed by clerical staff, if they were available? What
steps have you taken in order to try to reduce IDEA paperwork burden?
(6) Local School Districts--20 Percent Funds. Under section
613(a)(2)(C), a school district may treat as local funds up to 20
percent of the amount it receives under Part B that exceeds the amount
it received during the prior fiscal year. To what extent are school
districts using this authority? How are school districts using the
local funds that become available?
(7) Use of Insurance under Part C. To what extent are private and
public insurance used in paying for early intervention services under
Part C in your State? Have parents suffered any financial or other
difficulties resulting from the use of their insurance? What
difficulties do lead agencies have in accessing public or private
insurance?
In submitting your comments, please identify the area of your
involvement in special education, regular education or early
intervention, as well as your role, if any, in that area (e.g., parent,
teacher, student, service provider, administrator, or researcher). In
addition, if appropriate to your comments, please identify the specific
Part and section of IDEA that is the subject of your comments, and
specify why the statute needs to be amended.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.
Dated: December 28, 2001.
Loretta L. Petty,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 02-623 Filed 1-9-02; 8:45 am]
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